K-9 obstacle course challenges dogs to grow in confidence

by Elie Aoun

For residents seeking to give their dogs a new experience, the city of Independence recently installed a K-9 obstacle course in the “Bark Park” in Elmwood Park.

Police Chief Robert Butler and Recreation Director Tom Walchanowicz worked together on the project to put the police department’s obstacles in the public dog park. Independence City Council approved the project last fall, and the equipment was fully installed this June.

The course features 10 obstacles around the perimeter of the park. These include a wall jump with removable boards for height; a chain-link fence jump; a picket fence jump; a catwalk whose balance beam is 1 foot wide; a straight tunnel; a tunnel with a right turn; a window hurdle; a trestle walk bridge with boards spaced apart and plexiglass below; and an 8-foot-tall double stairway and a seesaw, which many dogs jump off of when they feel the weight shift.

While the dog park is divided into sections for large and small dogs, the separation is not enforced, and Walchanowicz said dogs of any size are welcome on the course.

Patrolman Michael Bruvarny said that the police department takes its K-9s to the park to train every other Tuesday, usually in the morning, to get the energy out of the dogs and “get the day started off in a positive manner.”

“When we use the city of Independence as our training location for that training day, we’ll always start off at that obstacle course,” he said. He added that some officers guide their K-9s through each obstacle, while others stand in the middle of the park and let their dogs go independently through the whole course, which helps teach them obedience.

The Bark Park is the only park in the surrounding area with a full K-9 course. “We were happy enough to put [the course] out in the public dog park so our residents and other people could use the obstacles as well,” Bruvarny said.

Several of the obstacles are meant to give police K-9s and residential dogs more confidence in uncertain situations. For example, the tunnel with a right turn gives dogs the opportunity to find an opening in a dark space, and many dogs do not immediately realize they can jump over the chain-link or picket fence because they are see-through, Bruvarny noted.

People’s reaction to the obstacles has been overwhelmingly positive. “It seems to suit our residents well,” Walchanowicz said. He said he believes that the course will be a permanent part of the park.

“The response has been great,” Bruvarny said. “[People] love the obstacles. It’s something else to do besides just letting the dog walk around or play a little fetch.”

The only problem that Bruvarny has come across arises when people attempt the course themselves. “I have to remind residents periodically that the obstacles are for dogs only,” he said. “They are not to support human weight.”

Photo caption: K-9 Hank walks along the balance beam with his toy. Photo submitted.